Japanese Customs
Tips for visitors to Japan(Courtesy Dr. Bob Hironaka)
- When crossing a street look BOTH WAYS. In Japan they drive on the left side of the street. You will instinctively look to your left and start crossing a street .... But the cars are coming on your side of the street from your right. Get in the habit of looking both ways before you cross a street to save yourself an accident.
- Learn a few "key: words.
- toilet - 'benjo' or'toire' (See below for pronunciation of vowels. Note particularly that the letter 'i' is pronounced as an English speaker would pronounce 'ee' as in 'keep' and for the letter 'e' use the sound of e in get.)
- good morning - 'ohayo' or 'ohayo gozai-masu' (the 'gozai masu' is a more polite way of speaking.
- hello - 'kon nichi wa'.
- good bye - 'sayo nara'.
- good night - 'O-yasumi na sai' (literally means have a rest).and should be used just prior to retiring for the evening. I would NOT use it when leaving someone at a function even though it may be late in the evening.
- thank you - 'domo' (this is a shortened form of 'domo arigato gozai-masu'. By itself, domo means "very" but is used to mean thank you. You may hear just 'arigato' - 'thanks'.
- please - 'dozo' (in the sense of please accept what I am offering - When offered some thing, they will say "dozo".
- thank you -domo. This very shortened version but is most commonly used. do- itashi mashite or 'domo arigato gozai mashita' is more formal version but seldom used.
- excuse me - 'sumi ma sen' eg "sumi ma sen" do you speak English?"
- excuse me - 'gomen' or 'gomen kudasai' eg if you bump someone you would say "gomen" or "gomen kudasai".
- 'to your health' - 'kampai'. Very important.
- bath - o-furo. The o is honorific and commonly used.
- Mrs. _____ - 'o-kusan'. This is a way to show respect for a person and is used to refer to the wife of a friend or a person with some stature. eg wife of a teacher. Use it when talking directly to a lady. O-kusan, would you like a cup of coffee. The wife of a person of very high office should be referred to as 'okusama'. Eg president's wife)
- Coffee is prounounced 'kohi'. Beer is pronounced 'bee-ru'.
- Tea is 'ocha' and refers to green tea. Black tea is 'kocha'.
- If you are treated to tea ceremony, the tea is referred to as 'cha', you will be shown the ceremony. At the end of the ceremony, admire the cup but do NOT lift it over your head to admire it, admire it in a crouched position and keep the cup close to the floor... if it slips out of your hand, it hasn't got far to fall and you won't break it.
- Learn to read the kanji for a few key words.
- Women (for toilet) -
or  (josee or onnabenjo)
- Men (for toilet) -
 or
 (dansee or otokobenjo)
- entrance -
 (iriguchi)
- exit -
 (deguchi)
- Speaking.
- Most Japanese speak some English but will not admit it. If they do not speak English, they can read it. Keep a note pad and pencil handy for writing what you want to say.
- Ask questions in the positive. ie "Are you going?" Do NOT ask "aren't you going?" (You may get a response like "Yes", meaning, you are correct, I am not going).
- Do NOT use swear words or slangs in your expressions. eg "We are having a HELL of a good time" will come out "we are having a bad experience".
- Get yourself a translation dictionary. Yohan English- Japanese, Japanese-English is small and good. Toei's is a little bigger. Many translation dictionaries have the Japanese alphabet in them in Japanese and in "English" letters. There is an excellent bookstore in Sapporo. Go up to the top and get a magnificent view of a park right in the middle of the city and mountains in the background.
- Japan is metric. They may not know how far a mile is. Also, they understand distances if you say it is 2 hours by car. 100 miles may seem like the other side of the country to them.
- Pronunciation back to top ALL Japanese syllables end in a vowel except one, which is 'n' as in 'own'.
- The vowel syllables are:
- 'a' as in 'uh'.
- 'e' as in 'eat'.
- 'u' as in 'food'.
- 'e' as in 'fed'.
- 'o' as in 'oh'.
- If you see a word with an 'i' in it, the correct pronunciation of the 'i' would be as 'e' as in 'eat'. The letters 'ei' together are pronounced as 'a' as in 'pay', the letters 'ai' together are pronounced as 'I'.
- Writing is top to bottom and right to left on the page. If words are written horizontally, the letters are left to right. The words have little emphasis from syllable to syllable.
- Japanese has an alphabet that is written two forms. Katakana is the simplest form but is used for writing foreign words. Your name would probably be written in this form. Hiragana is the form that is used for writing. In addition, kanji which is Chinese form is used for many words. A newspaper will use all three forms.
- A few customs.
- When entering a home there will be a landing and one step up into the house. Remove your shoes in the landing and put on a pair of slippers that will be provided by the entrance.
- Wear the slippers in the house EXCEPT on the 'tatami' (mat) floor areas. Go in your sox on the tatami unless the host says to wear your slippers. For 'home stay', I suggest that you take knitted slippers that you can wear in the homes, if you tend to have cold feet. Many homes do not have central heating. Many new homes have central heating.
- Express your delight in their art. They are very art conscious, especially simple art.
- There will be separate rooms for bath and toilet, not a combined room like most North American homes.
- Toilets. You may encounter both western and Japanese styletoilets. Japanese toilets are used in a squatting position.
- In public places, toilets are marked 'Western' or 'Japanese style'.
- There may be special toilet room slippers. Watch for this. If there are slippers in the toilet room, change to them leaving your 'house' slippers OUTSIDE of the toilet room and change back into the 'house' slippers when you come out. Do not use the toilet room slippers in the rest of the house; or the house slippers in the toilet room.
- When you return to your host's home after being out, you may be asked if you would like a bath. This does not mean that you have 'BO' - its almost a ritual to have a bath (o-furo) and relax - often before supper.
- The bath. The floor has a drain. Wash outside of the tub. A wash basin is provided for dipping water out of the tub. Wash outside of the tub and get all the soap off of your body. AFTER you are clean, get in the tub and soak... this is very relaxing but watch how long you soak. The water will be quite hot so do not soak more than about 5 minutes. If you soak too long you will be 'wiped out' the next day or two. DO NOT DRAIN THE TUB! Everyone uses the same water... hence do not wash yourself in the tub.
- Tipping. Do not tip. Your price in restaurants, taxis etc includes the tip called ('service charge').
- Gifts. It would be very appropriate to take a small gift for your host. The usual is to take something from Lethbridge or Canada. It does not need to be expensive. A small leather item makes a good gift. If you do handcrafts, this is an excellent gift. CDN coins for children are well received.
- Things to avoid offending your hosts
- Do not blow your nose loudly in public.
- When you yawn, cover your mouth.
- Don't rest your chopsticks in the bowl of rice while you eat.
- Don't eat food, such as ice cream, while walking down the street.
- Slurping your noodles is a sign that you are enjoying the food.
- Foods
- You will be offered raw fish (sashimi). It may be by itself or on sushi. Along with raw fish you will receive a dab of 'wasabi' - a pale green but very HOT horseradish (most is now mustard). Soy sauce on the wasabi, stir with your chopstick and dip your sashimi in it, then eat it. - Delicious!
- You will be offered drinks. If you nearly empty (even 1/2 empty) your glass, it will be refilled without asking you.
- Tea cups do NOT have handles. Hold near the rim and place on the palm of your other hand (rim on the bottom is not hot).
- Do NOT put soy sauce on your rice! . It is good etiquette to hold your rice bowl in your hand and bring it near your mouth when eating.
- A large ball of rice rolled in sea weed is common in Hokkaido. Eat the sea weed and the rice... Do NOT peel off the sea weed.
- Learn to use chopsticks properly.
- Taking a small gift to a home that you are visiting is customary. If you unexpectedly are to visit someone's home, there are wrapped cookies etc sold at train stations that you can take.
- Things to take:
- Pictures of Lethbridge and UofL.
- Take pictures of your family. Do not take slides except for presentation of a talk to a group. Most homes do not have a projector.
- Map of Alberta and Canada. (Road map).
- Potassium tablets to prevent jet lag. Take 50 mg/day for a few days before departure. On departure day take 50 mg in the morning, one before boarding and one on arrival and for a few days after. If the stay is short or there is daily travel, take 50 mg/day. On departure day from Japan, 50 mg in morning, 50 mg just before departure and 50 mg on arrival.
- Some Canadian coins and used stamps.
- Camera. I suggest that you take print film. If you want slides, you can take slide pictures from prints at home.
- A small recorder is handy for making notes rather than a note pad.
- A good supply of business cards. It is almost a ritual to exchange cards when meeting people. Write your name in Japanese.
- Canada pins to give to children.
- Make sure that your socks do not have holes. You will be in stocking feet in homes.
- A small flashlight, especially if you are staying in a private home.
- Large handkerchiefs for wiping your hands dry after washing in toilets. Public toilets do not have paper towels.
- Umbrella. Short fold up type. Can be purchased in Japan.
- YEN!
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